WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A six-member jury has returned a verdict of not guilty in the Kerry Kennedy drugged-driving trial at the Westchester County Court in White Plains on Friday morning.

Kennedy, a Bedford resident, faced one charge of driving while ability impaired by drugs, stemming from a July 2012 accident in North Castle. Toxicology reports showed that she had a sleep medication in her system. She pleaded not guilty, saying she accidentally took the pill instead of her thyroid medication.

Kennedy is the daughter of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, niece of John F. Kennedy and ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The trial lasted four days.

Check back to Daily Voice for reaction and more information on this developing story.

Comments (48)

sugarmag, you are the hateful one. you know nothing of anyone's political beliefs, and yet you say it is ALWAYS the righties who are hateful. I happen to be on the right, and I support the acquittal. I would suspect that there are people on both the right and the left who feel that way. We need fewer people like you calling other people names.

sugarmag, you are the hateful one. you know nothing of anyone's political beliefs, and yet you say it is ALWAYS the righties who are hateful. I happen to be on the right, and I support the acquittal. I would suspect that there are people on both the right and the left who feel that way. We need fewer people like you calling other people names.

Hi again Bill, appreciate the dialogue. Will log in another day to see more posts. For now, not seeing the connection - especially with a jury trial - between being able to afford fees, and absence of concept of justice, if I get your post (?). And all sorts of services do cost - medical, legal, social, recreational, administrative - not sure why you feel justice was not achievable here, if you do, but you may not... Interesting though, what is a comfortable definition of " justice" (philosophically and practically) given that there are yes fees? Thx.

Hi again Bill, appreciate the dialogue. Will log in another day to see more posts. For now, not seeing the connection - especially with a jury trial - between being able to afford fees, and absence of concept of justice, if I get your post (?). And all sorts of services do cost - medical, legal, social, recreational, administrative - not sure why you feel justice was not achievable here, if you do, but you may not... Interesting though, what is a comfortable definition of " justice" (philosophically and practically) given that there are yes fees? Thx.

In America the justice depends upon the color or family.Jurors are like dummies, and they don't have the guts to stand for justice. This is what I learned from my 27 years experience in America.In my opinion there should be a reform in our legal system, " Under One Nation One Law For All".

I agree with the verdict. She obviously made an honest mistake. Nobody intends to take sleeping pills and then drive regardless of their first or last name. I do think people over-medicate and this is an example of what can go wrong but clearly she made an honest mistake. She is not a criminal. She was underthe iinfluence of a drug and drugs affect everone differently so it is impossible to say that she could or could not have had the wherewithal to decide anything. It was a mistake get over it everyone.

So what you are saying is if she hit you or one of your loved ones and maimed them for life or God forbid killed them, then that's alright it was just a mistake. I think you would have a whole different reaction to the final verdict then. Don't be a hypocrite.

I am so sick of the bias, and really mean spirited comments made about any Kennedy at any opportunity.
The anonymity of public comment encourage the spite and hatred that resides in people who would otherwise in other venues NEVER wish to sound and appear so nasty.
None of the posters are any better as human beings.

She was not volitionally taking drugs or drinking alcohol as I'm sure many of the writers here do...having one or two "harmless drinks"and then driving home- They are more ability impaired than she was.
So go have a field day expressing your incomprehensible (to me) hatred.

I disagree.... had she been just a "regular" person with no name, it would never have even gotten to trial. there would have been a plea down in local court, and that would have been that. they made this a news item because she's a Kennedy. NO ONE would have been found guilty in a case like this.

I disagree.... had she been just a "regular" person with no name, it would never have even gotten to trial. there would have been a plea down in local court, and that would have been that. they made this a news item because she's a Kennedy. NO ONE would have been found guilty in a case like this.

Hey GeneB.. I bet if she had a family member of yours in her car when she smacked into that truck and they were injured, you'd be the first one to go after the "Kennedys" for sure. Now did you people actually think she was going to be convicted? If this skank had as many strange dicks sticking out of her, as she's had stuck in her, she'd look like a porcupine.

I believe this has nothing to do with her being a Kennedy. She made an honest mistake, one that anyone could have done and it was a fair and correct verdict. No one was injured, thank God. Should that have been the case, this trial would have taken on a completely different direction.

@joan.ciaramella - But it DOES have to do with her being a Kennedy. She may have made an "honest mistake", but if "anyone could have done it" and that "anyone" were on trial, that "anyone" would have been convicted and sentenced to the max.

Kerry Kennedy is not guilty for the sole reason she is a Kennedy. The Kennedys can commit whatever crimes they want, including murder, and get away with every one of them. If she were an "average person", the jury would have found her guilty and the judge would have applied the maximum sentence. And if she were an "average black person", she would have been held in jail awaiting the trial.

At least she didn't drive into a river and drowned someone in the vehicle . Wait a Kennedy wasn't held responsible for that also. It't must be nice to be above the law. What kind of idiot doesn't feel they are getting drowsy and doesn't pull over to the side of the road? Maybe next time she will kill someone.

Intentional or non-intentional, she was driving while impaired and
there are consequences for that, namely in her instance, a DUI.
like anyone else. The rules have gotten very strict for all of us
so that we can have safer roads.

I can tell by the postings how most think and I am old enough to remember Ted and his pregnant friend and how many hrs he waited so he could A-sober some,B- make sure she was dead and get his story straight. The Kennedy's always get a pass.

Lets see, one Kennedy gets drunk, drives off a bridge and leaves his date to drown, another rapes a 13 year old girl then beats her to death with a golf club, another gets drunk and hurls himself down a ski slope and dies hitting a tree, another fails the NY law boards 3times, flies an airplane in instrument conditions without an instrument license and crashes killing three, another now takes drugs and crashes driving. They are in trouble not because anyone is out to get them, they simply are arrogant and reckless living off the name of JFK, who by the way was a WWII veteran and a conservative.

I totally support this acquittal. Ridiculous that money was wasted bringing this to trial. Kennedy's should not get special treatment, but they should also not be get worse treatment than everyone else. DUI cases are regularly pleaded down to almost nothing, and this was not an obvious case of drinking and being way over the blood alcohol limt...you can argue whether she knew or didn't know what pill she took, but this overzealous prosecution of people for minor things should stop. Should have been a short suspended license and some time in a traffic safety class, not a jury trial wasting the time of jury members, judge, court officers, etc.

I agree...a total waste of time and money- this was not a case of egregious substance abuse- she didn't stop at a bar and have a few. It should have been reduced in pretrial conference- Another case of over eager prosecution.

I guess we are not responsible for our actions anymore. As I recall, the driver of the truck she hit was charged with a crime of leaving the scene of an accident even though he claims he didn't realize his truck had been hit, and found guilty. I suppose he was not a Kennedy or the Govenor's ex-spouse.

I am so happy about this verdict. Having made the same mistake myself, I know how similar the pills looked, until about a year or more ago when the thyroid medication was changed to a different color and shape, and how easily such an incident can happen. Congratulations, Kerry. I prayed for you!

Get a pair of glasses and keep your meds in separate containers. She and any one else that makes this mistake should be responsible for the accident, injuries and anything they caused by being careless.

The question was not whether Ms. Kennedy mistakenly took the wrong meds. The question was whether she was responsible once she felt sleepy to pull over before she sideswiped the truck (and was found slumping over the wheel, awakening only when someone pounded on her window). So, we should all hope that truck drivers driving long distances, cross country drivers exercise better judgement than Ms.Kennedy, because we've just given them a pass.